slavery still present in the United States?
Had a flash of insight while reading about Puerto Rico and the Spanish American War; see overview at http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/1898/bras.html ...
Train of thought:
- they had slavery after we did
- we ended slavery before they did
- don't some parts of the world still have slavery?
- do they? is the planet free of slavery?
- not really ... *thinks of cafeteria workers serving me my food*
Bad comparison, right? But think about it on a broad sociological perspective. Certain people are born into poverty, which is a form of bondage. Despite minority scholarships, socioeconomic and political factors often keep impoverished people from receiving aid that substantially differs their position in life -- that position, of course, includes being blind to the benefits of good education, and the ability to receive one, even -- or especially -- if they are in impoverished public school districts.
Then these people receive a poor education and are thrust into the more tangible form of slavery -- minimum wage work, where even two full time jobs may not be enough to make ends meet. (Or at least, that's the picture Sociology 1010 depicts at MTSU.)
In order to break this vicious cycle -- in order to free the slaves -- we would have to reconsider how we view certain facets of life. If education is a key to freedom, and everyone has a right to freedom, then everyone has a right to education -- thus it should not be allocated to only those who can pay for it, but given freely to everyone. We try to do this with minority scholarships and poverty grants, but the system seems too corrupt for this to be very useful to everyone. That is, many are not in a position to utilize it -- that position may include being aware of the opportunity (that is, appreciating it) -- or else they do not _fully_ utilize it, and squander the opportunity (again, failing to appreciate it.) At this point in my quandary, I must ask at what point personal accountability takes over ...
But it's all very interesting. 200 years ago the black woman would serve me my breakfast because she has no choice. Now, she serves me my breakfast because she can't have a better job -- effectively the same thing. But we act like it's completely different ...
Train of thought:
- they had slavery after we did
- we ended slavery before they did
- don't some parts of the world still have slavery?
- do they? is the planet free of slavery?
- not really ... *thinks of cafeteria workers serving me my food*
Bad comparison, right? But think about it on a broad sociological perspective. Certain people are born into poverty, which is a form of bondage. Despite minority scholarships, socioeconomic and political factors often keep impoverished people from receiving aid that substantially differs their position in life -- that position, of course, includes being blind to the benefits of good education, and the ability to receive one, even -- or especially -- if they are in impoverished public school districts.
Then these people receive a poor education and are thrust into the more tangible form of slavery -- minimum wage work, where even two full time jobs may not be enough to make ends meet. (Or at least, that's the picture Sociology 1010 depicts at MTSU.)
In order to break this vicious cycle -- in order to free the slaves -- we would have to reconsider how we view certain facets of life. If education is a key to freedom, and everyone has a right to freedom, then everyone has a right to education -- thus it should not be allocated to only those who can pay for it, but given freely to everyone. We try to do this with minority scholarships and poverty grants, but the system seems too corrupt for this to be very useful to everyone. That is, many are not in a position to utilize it -- that position may include being aware of the opportunity (that is, appreciating it) -- or else they do not _fully_ utilize it, and squander the opportunity (again, failing to appreciate it.) At this point in my quandary, I must ask at what point personal accountability takes over ...
But it's all very interesting. 200 years ago the black woman would serve me my breakfast because she has no choice. Now, she serves me my breakfast because she can't have a better job -- effectively the same thing. But we act like it's completely different ...